Lethe Nafelis
Introduction Lethe Nafelis is a character first appearing in The Wolfsbane Chronicles' sixth story arc Tales From the East. The earliest game-time reference to Lethe can be found in Session 2, Seven Days from Bafriza, of The Islands of Parania campaign. Characteristics Lethe's defining characteristic is their ambiguous nature. The character is based on certain concepts in quantum mechanics, manifesting in-universe as Chaos-associated attributes and effects. Principally among these, Lethe experiences the effects of quantum superposition - a state of being wherein their appearance takes on every possible aspect at once. If one were to look at Lethe, they would theoretically see a Krysapi simultaneously the most normal and most alien imaginable. Hair of indeterminate length, colour and existence springs from a scalp of skin of every tone. Eyes the most dull, average and beautiful shade of a every colour shine from a completely androgynous yet perfectly feminine and masculine face atop a fat, lean, muscular, atrophied frame of roughly human height. Technically, their appearance should settle into a single discernable aspect whenever they are observed, but keeping track of this is impractical. Functionally, this is also hard to understand. For the purposes of gameplay, Lethe's appearence (and corresponding pronouns) are up to every player's individual determination, and they need not agree even when one character might casually mention Lethe's long blonde hair while another sees them as bald. Behaviour The result of a quirk of their quantum nature, Lethe has a rather unique perspective of time - perceiving the people around them at every state they have/will experience(d) in their lives. As such, Lethe is completely unfazed by idiosyncratic traits, such as Draven Shadow-kin's anomalous age. For the purposes of gameplay, this ability cannot be used prophetically. Throughout the game, Lethe presents as impatient. This is because they have never finished an adventure successfully; lacking the ability to control their random jumps through time and space (akin to quantum tunnelling). Despite this, Lethe is not unintelligent, and is remarkably perceptive. Therefore, if a situation has a less obvious solution that Lethe suspects might be faster than the obvious one, Lethe might pursue it with unexpected vigour... assuming they stood still long enough to learn about it. Since the advent of certain Oddcasting consequences (detailed below) Lethe has become very averse to using any Chaotic abilities they have, and feels guilty for their past actions. This has led to an increased propensity for acts of self-sacrifice as a means of penance. Magical Abilities At the start of the campaign, Lethe was a very chaotic entity. Their principal magics were those of Chancecasting and Entropomancy - grounded as they are in Chaos and quantum concepts. They also dabbled in Auracasting, as well as Oddcasting for use of the spell Dice (later moved to Chancecasting). As a consequence of Dice, however, Lethe's nature was altered significantly. Gazing into a demonic realm, Lethe came to believe that it was their chaotic nature that would cause its denizens to rise and blanket the realm in suffering and destruction. Because of this, Lethe beseeched the Metagod of Fate to intervene on their behalf and help them change their ways. This successfully altered Lethe's abilities and outlook on the world - changing their alignment to Lawful Neutral (previously Chaotic Good) and rerolling their magical abilities. Though they attempt to live a more orderly life, Lethe is still a fundamentally Chaotic being, and retains certain abilities from their previous disciplines, notably Basic Entropoperception. As of the mid-point of The Islands of Parania, Lethe's magics consist of Runecasting, Spiritcasting, Bloodcasting, Auracasting and Entropomancy. Earlier Life Not much is known about Lethe's earlier exploits, though 'earlier' might not be the most accurate term. Their adventures before coming to Parania may actually have occurred in the future, as well as the past. Whether or not this is the case, historical references to a being that may be Lethe have not yet been discovered. Their 'surname', Nafelis, is an epithet given to them by Nafelites, rather than the Nafelites naming themselves after Lethe. Indeed, it is even difficult to extract this information from Lethe directly; their poor memory and tendency to rush through situations not being conducive to a very deep understanding of anywhere they have been.